What Happened to the Last Month?

January 20 - the last post; February 18 - today.  Boy it is really hard to post any more than once a month these days.  You would think we (a) busy (b) lazy or (c) hate to write on these things!  I won't reveal which of the three choices is accurate; you get to guess.  Prior to our trip home on January 27 we packed in a lot of things.  We fed around 90 seminary teachers on the 23rd with our new favorite sandwiches, ham and cheese with a special topping that makes your mouth water.  Those lunches are always busy, but this time it was less so than others because Sister McGuire came up with an easier menu to fix.  Even the cleanup was easier, which made my dishpan hands happy.
On Monday we went up to Uncle Paul McGuire's viewing.  We were really sad that we didn't make it up to talk with him before he died.  Luckily Jim and Shirley made it up while they were in LA and had a nice visit with him.  It was good to see Patrick.  I really didn't know him at all and it was nice to sit for close to two hours and talk with him and some others who came by while we were there.  Uncle Paul was a great guy and always had a smile on his face.  Their family has had a lot of challenges with many passing away within a short few years.
On Wednesday we flew back home for a 10 day stay with the advent of three new grandchildren.  We are blessed to have a mission president and institute director who are willing to work with us on such a momentous time.  The time back home seems like a blur due to the many things that were happening seemingly all at once.  On Thursday we went down to Mapleton to meet our new grandson, Henry Owen Swenson.  Such a cute little guy, and it so nice to have a new color to our family.  And look at the hair on that boy!

Proud grandma with Henry

On Saturday, the 30th, we were blessed to go to the temple and have him sealed to his new parents.  What a great and wonderful thing to witness as they laid Henry on the altar between his parents.  As we went over to Kristina's and Nate's home for the family meal, Julianne started complaining about contractions.  She would have liked to just not worry about them, but they kept coming, so pursuant to a call to the hospital, we were off to SLC and University Hospital.  Lovely Olivia Ricketts was born that evening.  It turned into a long day and she couldn't hold off for a few more hours so that Olivia (Livy) and I could have the same birthday!  Livy had some trouble breathing and so they put her on oxygen, but she used the time that Mom stayed in the hospital to get right off of it. 

Livy with oxygen

Finally on February 1, Strom Kent McGuire made his entrance into the world.  He waited until about 10 pm to come so Diana and I went over to Billy's house to tend the kids while he and Jacee welcomed Strom here. (Look at Diana's post for a picture of Strom because I didn't get it on my cellphone). I don't know why babies wait until a time when you end of losing sleep to make their appearance, but such was the case for our two most recent grandchildren.  So that makes 19 grandchildren: 7 granddaughters and 12 grandsons.
The rest of our stay was spent having fun with family.  Except for January 31 when the Bishop asked us to spend a few minutes in Sacrament Meeting talking about our mission and then the HP had me give their lesson on being a Senior Missionary.  A guy can't get a break even on his birthday.  Oh, yeah, I turned 65 that day.  You know, Medicare, Social Security, aches and pains.
We flew home on Sunday, February 7 and the next few days hit the ground running.  Zone meeting Monday morning and two FHEs that night, while trying to prepare for teaching.  Tuesday night it was Book of Mormon class again.  We were interested to find out that Elder Richardson who taught for us the week we were gone, mistakenly taught the old BofM curriculum, but we carried on from where we should have been.  On Wednesday it was back to car inspections for the missionaries which is really a lot of fun.  We get to interact with some of the senior missionaries and the work isn't hard.  That night we began our Temple Preparation class with three of the nine who we will be teaching present.  We will be teaching it again this Sunday and the rest will attend there.  Thursday brought a return to Forum lunches for us and then the APs for dinner along with their Chinese investigator, Xi (she).  Diana decided that the two in one day was not a good idea.  Friday came with a chance to do laundry and slow down a little.  We really have felt on the go since coming back.  Saturday we fed the ZLs with Jose, Anna and Martin.  One of the great things we do is get to know these investigators and hopefully make them feel a little at home.  Jose works for a solar company in sales and is working from here and Houston where his ex-wife and two sons live.  He has agreed to get baptized, just doesn't know whether to get baptized here or in Houston.  Martin is in diving school where they are teaching him to be an inspector of building materials under water.  He is coming along okay, but has a Word of Wisdom problem.  The last couple of days he has seemed more talkative and at ease so maybe he can progress.  In the meantime, Xi is a golden convert.  He will be baptized on the 27th.  He is a fine young man who is studying for a masters in computer science at SDSU.
Well here it is Tuesday and I started this on Friday.  The time sure flies, plus I am not very good at this.  The last few days was full of food (with the CES/YSA missionaries - too much food), grocery shopping, laundry, seeing Risen and a full day of Church. 
On Sunday we went to dinner at Bishop Goff's house.  They are great people and do so much for the YSA ward.  There are people like that all over the Church and we are lucky to be here meeting some of them.  A mission provides such a great chance to experience other people and areas and to serve.  As I listened to the President's Fireside on Sunday which consists of music by the missionaries and talks by recent converts, I was touched by how wonderful the gospel is.  It allows us to come closer to Christ and hopefully learn to be more like Him.  It is sometimes difficult to understand why people would not accept that opportunity in their lives, but that is what agency is all about.